Isaac Hindin Miller reports from the style metropolis on the latest in fall menswear fashions.
Michael Bastian is a hands-on designer. At one point during his Gant presentation this afternoon, he ran over to a female model to rearrange the scarf that was beginning to slip off her shoulder. No interns, no stylists. That's what you call going the extra mile.
His was a texturally rich collection, filled with herringbone, tweed, tartan, corduroy and chunky knits. Cross country skiing was supposed to have been the starting point, but the overall feel (and the models) more closely resembled small town American country kids out for a jaunt on the town.
Every outfit came casually multi-layered: a flannel shirt with a sweater, drill coat and a denim jacket; or a turtleneck under a shirt, under a cardigan, with another sweater tied around the waist.
Still, a country kid's gotta dress up, no matter how mismatched the attempt might be. The final tuxedo was red corduroy with a black grosgrain lapel, paired with a madras shirt, bow tie and pin-striped pants tucked into knee high snow boots.
His date wore a floor length cord skirt with a quilted jacket, her one frivolity a red feather belt, perfectly matching his dinner jacket. No doubt a stylistic flourish added by the designer himself.
